A few thoughts on the article from March 19, 2004
entitled “More vaccines, clinics planned”.

The
current (2003-04) flu season has not been the “worst season in
recent memory” unless your memory is very short. The 2002-03
season was considered mild. Prior to that year, the cases of flu were
about the same as the current year. As recently as the 1999-2000
season, flu deaths exceeded the epidemic threshold for 31 of 33 weeks
and peaked at 11.2% of all deaths during mid-January, higher than the
reported 10% for this year, as stated in the article.

Dr. Jennifer
Gordon Wright of the CDC said in a recent press conference “Overall,
preliminary data do not suggest that this past influenza season was
unusually severe with regard to children. Rather, it appears that
there may have been increased recognition and reporting of the
illness.”

While it is always tragic when a child dies,
people need to know that of the 135 children who died, half of them
had underlying medical conditions that made them more susceptible to
complications from the flu. The vast majority of people who contract
flu recover with no complications, and obtain a lifelong immunity to
that strain of flu, something the vaccine does not provide.

The impression that this was a particularly bad
year was largely due to two things.

The
early start of the flu season led to predictions that this would be
a bad year and kept news stories circulating, especially about the
vaccine “shortage”. This in turn caused people to panic.

Prior to
this flu season, flu was not a reportable disease. Starting in
October of 2003 the CDC asked physicians to report cases of flu, and
implemented a new tracking system, which inflated the numbers of
reported cases, but not the number of actual cases. This also
supplied the media with reportable data earlier in the season.

County health
officials say they will place more emphasis on flu shots for children
6-23 months old, and pregnant women. I hope they will remember that
most flu shots contain mercury, and order ample mercury free
(pediatric) vaccines for those choosing to vaccinate. Current
research is finding a strong link between mercury exposure and
neurological and behavioral problems in children. Mercury free
vaccines were not widely available this year.

In February,
the three companies that make flu vaccines for the U.S. market --
Aventis

SA, Chiron
and MedImmune Inc. presented testimony at a meeting of the U.S.

House
Government Reform Committee.
They asked congress to
help ensure their profits by a “universal recommendation”
which would expand to include flu shots for all people, not just
those at risk for complications. Recommendations usually lead to
mandates, which mean children entering school, and certain employees
could be required to get vaccinated every year.

While studies are ongoing, preliminary data on
this year’s flu vaccine show a very low rate of effectiveness
(Colorado Healthcare Workers Study).

The
Fujian strain of flu, which caused all the panic this year, will be
added to next year’s vaccine. It was difficult to isolate in
laboratories, therefore did not make it into this years mix. If it is
a new strain, as is being reported in the news, I wonder if they will
have ample time to do safety studies before injecting it into the
general population. I remember the Swine flu disaster of 1976. The
rush to vaccinate for swine flu started in October, and by January of
1977, more than 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome
(GBS) had been reported in
vaccinees, with 25 deaths.

To vaccinate
or not should be an informed decision left up to individuals.
Vaccines are not benign substances, and not without risks and side
effects. People have a right to know what risks they are taking
before they, or their children are asked to stick out their arm to
ensure the profit margin of the pharmaceutical companies.